Grapple.



M. W. GILMARTIN.

GRAPPLE.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 7, I916.

Patented Apr. 24, 1917 2 SHEETSSHEET I.

I VITNESSES INVENTOR M. w. GILMARTIN.

GRAP PLE. APPLICATION HLED JULY 7, I9l6.

Patented Apr. 24, 1917.

ZSHEETS-SHEET 2- INVENTOR Altar/14w NESSES man. u c.

WITFQD STATE PATENT @FFIQE.

MICHAEL W. GILMARTIN, 0]? DOVER, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO THE YALE -85TOWNE MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF STAMFORD, CONNECTICUT.

GBAPPLE.

Patented Apr. 24, 1917.

Application filed. July 7, 1916. Serial No. 108,024.

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, MICHAEL V. G1L- MARTIN, a. citizen of the UnitedStates, and a resident of Dover, in the county of Morris and State ofNew Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inGrapples; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, andexact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilledin the art towhich it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to an improvement in grapples for handling andconveying cylindrical bodies such as projectiles, pipes, shafts, rollsof paper, barrels, etc., and is an improvement on the constructiondisclosed in Patent No. 1,039,727 granted to me October 1st, 1912.

The said patented improvement consists of an inverted U-shape yoke,adapted to straddle the article to be lifted or handled, and providedwith one or more latches so located that when the yoke is dropped overthe body to be lifted, the latch or latches will engage the said bodybelow its greatest diameter and lock it within the yoke. It isfrequently the case however that the articles are standing on end andhave to be lifted vertically, and this is particularly true in the caseof projectiles, and when the articles are so standing, the yoke must beturned to a horizontal position and then moved horizontally in order tostraddle the body. With the yoke thus applied it does not grip theprojectile until the weight of the latter falls on the latches, hence itfrequently happens that the grapple shifts its position on theprojectile so that the latter will not be centrally supported, and willrest or swing in an inclined position, generally with its tapered end orpoint up, and is liable to work out of the grapple.

The object of this present invention is to provide means for positivelygripping the projectile or other article intermediate the latches andadjacent the point of suspension of the yoke which gripping devicesacting in conjunction with the two latches, absolutely lock the articleagainst endwise sliding movement in the grapple.

With this object in view my invention consists in the parts andcombination of parts as will be more fully explained and pointed out inthe claims.

In the accompanying drawings; Figure '1 is a view in side elevation,showing the yoke carrying a projectile; Fig. 2 is a view in plan of theyoke, the clamping jaws being removed; Fig. 3 is a view in transversesection of the yoke showing the clamping jaws in elevation; Fig. 4 is aView in elevation and Fig. 5 a view in end elevation of the clampingjaws; Fig. 6 is a view in elevation of the yoke carrying a projectileand showing a modified form of clamping jaw; Fig. 7 is a view inelevation of this modified form provided with means for supporting theprojectile in vertical position; Fig. 8 is a view in elevation of theclamping jaws of the yoke shown in Fig. 6, and Fig. 9 is a view inelevation of another modification.

10 represents the yoke, the upper portion of which is semicylindrical inshape with the lower free ends 11 flared outwardly so as to permit anarticle of a given size to readily enter the yoke, or rather permit theyoke to pass onto and embrace the article.

In the drawings, I have shown a projectile in connection with the yoke,but it is evident that the device is equally well adapted for handlingand transporting cylindrical bodies of any kind, such as pipes, shafts,rolls of paper, barrels, etc., hence reference herein to projectiles isintended to cover and include cylindrical objects of any kind, orarticles of other shapes that can be engaged by the latches andclampingjaws.

The locking latches 12 are mounted in the outwardly flaring ends 11 ofthe yoke 10, and are preferably cam shaped, so that when in their normalpositions, their inner or bearing faces will pro ect inwardlysufficiently to prevent the release of an article embraced by the yoke.These latches normally fall and rest in closed position by gravity andare retained within the zone of gravity influence by the set screws 13,

'which are mounted in the sides of the yoke with their free ends restingwithin slots 1& in the latches 12. These slots and set screws limit theoutward or opening movement of the latches, and always maintain thepreponderance of weight of the latches in planes intermediate thevertical center of the pivot bolts 15 so that it matters not to whatextent the latches may be moved in placing the yoke on the projectile,they will fall into locking position, the instant they pass below thegreatest diameter of the projectile. In order to take the whole or aportion of the weight of the projectile off the set screws 13, which areprimarily designed to limit the opening movement of the latches, Iprovide each end of the yoke with a shoulder 16 against which the freeends 17 of the latches rest when they are in their closed position. Bymeans of the shoulders 16 and screws 13, the latches are prevented frompassing either up or down beyond the effective point of action, henceare always in a condition to permit the yoke to be passed onto aprojectile and then fall and lock the yoke to the projectile.

The yoke is provided centrally with two pairs of oppositely disposedoutwardly projecting lugs 18, one lug of each pair being bored as at 19and counterbored as at 20 to receive the head and portion of the shank,and the others bored and threaded, to receive the threaded end of thebolts 21 on which the clamping jaws 22 are mounted. The top of the yokeimmediately between the two sets of lugs 18 is recessed or cut away asshown in Fig. 2, hence by providing one lug of each pair with recessedseats for the head of the bolt 21, and the companion lugs with threadedholes for the threaded ends of the bolts, the latter operate to tie thelugs together and constitute braces which compensate for the metalremoved from the top of the yoke.

The clamping jaws 22 are substantially L-shape as shown in Figs. 3 and 4with their longer arms extending over the yoke and overlapping eachother, and their shorter arms, which are enlarged at their free ends asshown in Fig. 5, located adjacent the side edges of the yoke and in aposition to bear on and grip or clamp a projectile above and below, orat opposite sides of the yoke. The inner overlapping arms of theclamping jaws constitute the attaching means for the hoist hook, hencewhen the yoke is suspended from the hoist hook, the weight of the yokeand its load is borne directly by the overlapping members of theclamping jaws and consequently turns said jaws on their pivots in adirection to force their enlarged free ends into contact with theprojectile and at opposite sides of the yoke. These clamping jaws do notsupport the projectile within the yoke, as do the latches 12, but simplybear on the projectile at both sides of the yoke so as to compensate forany looseness of the projectile in the yoke and lock it against anyendwise or sliding movement.

Instead of employing clamping jaws as above described they may beconstructedas shown in Figs. 67 and 8. In the modified construction onejaw 22 is provided with a looped or ring shaped inner end 22 whichconstitutes the hoist ring of the grapple, and this loop is provided onits periphery with a cam shaped surface 22 against which the free, endof the companion jaw 22 bears, this said jaw 22 being so shaped as topermit the ring 22 to pivot freely on its fulcrum, and be positivelyactuated thereby to clamp and release the projectile. With this latterconstruction the ring 22 projects up, or out considerably beyond a linepassing through the fulcrum bolts of the jaws, so that if the yoke isapplied to a projectile standing on an end, as in Fig. 7, the hoist ropewill pull on the ring in a plane outside locked against longitudinalmovement hence less care need be exercised in the application of theyoke to the projectiles which results in considerable saving in time, inaddition to the absolute security against injury which would result inthe event the projectile should slip from the yoke.

In order to lift a projectile standing on end without turning it, I haveprovided the latches 12 with flexible members 23 which pass throughholes in the side ribs 2 1 on the body of the yoke, and terminate attheir free ends in loops or hooks 25 for their attachment to cables orchains 26, connected with the main hoist cable 27 These supplementalcables or chains 26, engaging and supporting the yoke near the free endsof its arms, prevent the yoke and projectile from turning to thepositions they assume when supported solely on the main hoist cable 27,and as part of the weight falls on the members 23 attached to thelatches 12, the latter are pulled or forced inwardly into contact withthe projectile, and together with the clamping jaws, lock the projectileagainst endwise displacement or movement in the yoke.

If desired the yoke may be provided with latches 12 as shown in Fig. 9.In this latter construction the two latches overlap at the center thusclosing the yoke below the object carried by the yoke. With suchconstruction, the clamping jaws would of course have a greater throw soas to engage the ob? ject supported on the latches.

It is evident that many slight changes might be resorted to in therelative arrange ment of parts shown and described without departingfrom the spirit and scope of my invention. Hence I would have itunderstood that I do not wish to confine myself to the exactconstruction and arrangement of parts shown and described, but

Having fully described my invention what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters-Patent, is

1. In a grapple, the combination of a yoke comprising an invertedU-shaped structure, a latch mounted in the lower end of an arm of saidyoke so as to form a rest and support for said body below its greatestdiameter, and a pivoted clamping jaw carried by the yoke and adapted toengage the body suspended within the yoke intermediate the latch andfree end of the other arm, the said clamping jaw being connected withthe hoist cable so as to be positively actuated thereby.

2. In a grapple, the combination of a yoke comprising an invertedU-shaped structure of a size and shape to conform to the body to belifted, a latch mounted in the lower end of an arm of said yoke so as toform a rest and support for said body and two pivoted clamping jawscarried by the yoke approximately midway between the ends of the freeends of the arms of the yoke and adapted to be actuated by the hoistcable to engage the body within the yoke.

2. In a grapple, the combination of a yoke comprising a rigid structureadapted to straddle the object to be lifted and conforming in shape tothe part of the object embraced by the yoke, a latch mounted in thelower end of an arm of said yoke and adapted to engage the object belowthe greatest diameter of the latter, and two clamping jaws pivoted tothe yoke adjacent to and at opposite sides of the suspension point ofthe yoke the said jaws adapted to engage the object and lock it againstendwise movement in the yoke.

4:. In a grapple, the combination of a yoke comprising a rigid structureadapted to straddle the object to be lifted and conforming in shape tothe part of the object embraced by the yoke, a latch mounted in thelower end of an arm of said yoke and adapted to engage the object belowthe greatest diameter of the latter and two clamping jaws pivoted to theyoke adjacent the suspension point of the latter and adapted to beactuated by the hoist cable to engage the body within the yoke at bothsides of the latter.

5. In a grapple, the combination of an inverted U-shaped yoke adapted tostraddle the object to be lifted, a latch mounted in the lower end of anarm of said yoke'and adapted to engage the object below the greatestdiameter of the latter and two clamping jaws pivoted to the yoke andadapted to engage the object at both sides of the yoke, one of saidclamping jaws terminating in a looped end for the attachment of thehoist cable and the other clamping jaw having its inner end constructedto be engaged and actuated by said loop shaped end.

6. In a grapple, the combination of an inverted U-shaped yoke adapted tostraddle the object to be lifted, a latch mounted in the lower end of anarm of said yoke and adapted to engage the object below the greatestdiameter of the latch, and two clamping jaws pivoted to the yoke andadapted to engage the object at both sides of the yoke, one of saidclamping jaws terminating in a looped end for the attachment of thehoist cable, and provided with a cam surface, and the other clamping jawhaving its free end constructed to be actuated by the cam surface on itscompanion clamping aw.

7. In a grapple, the combination of an I inverted U-shaped yoke, a latchmounted adjacent the free end of each arm of the yoke, a clamping jawcarried by the yoke adjacent the suspension point of the latter, and ahoist cable connected with the latches and clamping jaw whereby the saidparts are positively held in contact with the projectile when the latteris suspended.

8. In a grapple, the combination of an inverted U-shaped yoke having apivoted latch adjacent each free end and a clamp ing jaw adjacent thesuspension point of the yoke, and a hoist cable connected directly withsaid clamping jaw whereby the weight of the yoke and its load arecarried by said jaw, and connections between the latches and hoist cablewhereby the latches are drawn into contact with the object within theyoke and the yoke supported in a horizontal position.

In testimony whereof I have signed this specification in the presence oftwo subscribing witnesses.

MICHAEL W. GILMARTIN.

Witnesses:

N. Conrrs LAMMORD, G. F. DOWNEY.

Copies of this; patent may be obtained for five cents each, byaddressing the Commissioner of Patents. Washington, D. G.

